Tropic Thunder

''Tropic Thunder'' is a 2008 satirical action comedy film directed by Ben Stiller, who wrote the screenplay with Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen. The film stars Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel, and Brandon T. Jackson as a group of prima donna actors making a Vietnam War film. When their frustrated director (Steve Coogan) drops them in the middle of a jungle, they are forced to rely on their acting skills to survive the real action and danger. ''Tropic Thunder'' parodies many famous war films, specifically those based on the Vietnam War. The ensemble cast includes Tom Cruise, Nick Nolte, Danny McBride, Matthew McConaughey, and Bill Hader.

Stiller developed ''Tropic Thunder'' premise during the production of ''Empire of the Sun'' in the spring of 1987, and later enlisted Theroux and Cohen to complete a script. The film was green-lit in 2006 and produced by Stuart Cornfeld, Stiller, and Eric McLeod for Red Hour Productions and DreamWorks Pictures as an international coproduction between the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Filming took place in 2007 on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i over thirteen weeks and was the largest film production in the island's history. The extensive marketing campaign included faux websites for three of the main characters and their fictional films, a fictional television special, and selling the energy drink advertised in the film, "Booty Sweat".

Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks released ''Tropic Thunder'' in the United States on August 13, 2008. It received generally positive reviews for its characters, story, faux trailers, and cast performances. However, the depiction of the mentally handicapped and use of blackface makeup attracted controversy. The film opened at the top of the American box office and retained the number-one position for three consecutive weeks, ultimately grossing more than $195 million worldwide before its release on home media on November 18, 2008. Downey was nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, while both he and Cruise received nominations for a Golden Globe Award.

Plot

Hook-handed Vietnam veteran Staff Sergeant John "Four Leaf" Tayback's memoir ''Tropic Thunder'' is being made into a film. With the exception of newcomer supporting actor Kevin Sandusky, the cast—fading action hero Tugg Speedman, overbearing five-time Academy Award-winning Australian method actor Kirk Lazarus, loudmouthed rapper Alpa Chino, and drug-addicted comedian Jeff Portnoy—all cause problems for the inexperienced director Damien Cockburn, who cannot control them, resulting in a million-dollar pyrotechnics scene being wasted. With the project months behind schedule, studio executive Les Grossman gives Damien an ultimatum: get the cast under control or the project will be cancelled.

On Four Leaf's advice, Damien drops the actors into the middle of the jungle, with hidden cameras and rigged special effects explosions to film " guerrilla-style". The actors have guns that fire blanks, along with a map and scene listing that will lead to a helicopter waiting at the end of the route. Unknown to the actors and production, the group has been dropped in the middle of the Golden Triangle, the home of the heroin-producing Flaming Dragon gang. Just as the group is about to set off, Damien inadvertently steps on an old land mine and is blown up, stunning the actors. Tugg, believing Damien faked his death to encourage the cast to give better performances, assures the others that Damien is alive, and that they are still shooting the film. Kirk is unconvinced but joins them in their trek to get out of the jungle.

When Four Leaf and pyrotechnics operator Cody Underwood try to locate the deceased director, they are captured by Flaming Dragon. Four Leaf is revealed to have hands; he confesses to Underwood that he actually served in the Coast Guard, has never left the United States, and that he wrote his "memoir" as a tribute. As the actors continue through the jungle, Kirk, who has become convinced that Tugg's ineptitude is putting them in jeopardy, and Kevin, the only actor who bothered to properly prepare for his role, discover that Tugg is leading them in the wrong direction. The resulting argument results in Kirk leading the rest of the cast back toward the resort they are staying at as an increasingly delirious Tugg is captured by Flaming Dragon. Taken to their base, Tugg believes it is a POW camp from the script. The gang discovers he is the star of their favorite film, the box-office bomb ''Simple Jack'', and forces him to reenact it several times a day, leading him to become brainwashed.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Tugg's agent, Rick "Pecker" Peck, confronts Les over an unfulfilled term in Tugg's contract that entitles him to a TiVo. Flaming Dragon calls during the discussion and demands a ransom for Tugg, but Les instead delivers a profanity-laden death threat. Les is uninterested in rescuing Tugg and is instead delighted at the prospect of a large insurance payout if Tugg dies. He attempts to convince Pecker to play along by promising a Gulfstream V jet and "lots of money".

Kirk, Alpa, Jeff, and Kevin discover Flaming Dragon's heroin factory. After witnessing Tugg being tortured, they plan a rescue attempt based on the film's script. Kirk impersonates a farmer towing a "captured" Jeff on the back of a water buffalo, distracting the armed guards so Alpa and Kevin can infiltrate and find the prisoners, but a combination of broken Mandarin Chinese and inconsistencies in his story sets off the gang's boss. The actors, knowing their cover has been blown, begin firing, fooling the gang members into surrender. Their control of the gang falls apart when Jeff grabs the leader and heads for the drugs, and the gang, realizing the guns fire blanks, recover their guns and fight back.

The four actors locate Four Leaf, Underwood, and Tugg and cross a bridge rigged to explode to get to Underwood's helicopter. Tugg initially remains behind, believing Flaming Dragon to be his "family", but runs back screaming, chased by an angry horde. Four Leaf destroys the bridge, rescuing Tugg, but as the helicopter takes off, the gang boss fires an RPG at the helicopter. Rick unexpectedly stumbles out of the jungle and saves them by throwing a TiVo box into the path of the rocket. The crew return to Hollywood and footage from the hidden cameras is compiled into the feature film ''Tropic Blunder'', which becomes a major critical and commercial success. The film wins Tugg his first Academy Award, which Kirk presents to him at the ceremony.

Cast

* Ben Stiller as Tugg Speedman: Once the highest-paid, highest-grossing action film star ever due to his ''Scorcher'' franchise, his career has stalled, and he now has a reputation for appearing in nothing but box office bombs. After drawing negative coverage for his portrayal in ''Simple Jack'', in which he plays a mentally challenged farm boy who can talk to animals, he takes the role of Four Leaf Tayback in an attempt to save his career. Tugg's faux trailer at the film's start is a preview for ''Scorcher VI: Global Meltdown'', the latest in his series and a spoof of long-running summer action blockbuster franchises.
* Jack Black as Jeff Portnoy: A drug-addicted comedian-actor well known for portraying multiple parts in films that rely on toilet humor, particularly jokes about flatulence. In the film-within-a-film, he plays a raspy-voiced soldier named Fats. He fears he is only considered an actor because of his farts and nothing else. Portnoy's faux trailer for juvenile family comedy ''The Fatties: Fart 2'', about a family (with each member played by Portnoy) that enjoys passing gas, spoofs Eddie Murphy's portrayal of multiple characters in films such as '' Nutty Professor II: The Klumps''.
* Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus: An Australian method actor and five-time Academy Award winner, Lazarus had a controversial " pigmentation alteration" surgery to temporarily darken his skin for his portrayal of the black character, Staff Sergeant Lincoln Osiris. Lazarus refuses to break character until he has recorded the DVD commentary for a part and only speaks in his character's African American Vernacular English. Lazarus's faux trailer, ''Satan's Alley'', is about two gay monks in a 12th-century Irish monastery, parodying films like ''Brokeback Mountain'' and Downey's own scenes with Tobey Maguire (who in a cameo portrays himself playing the other monk) in ''Wonder Boys''. Downey said he modeled Lazarus on three actors: Russell Crowe, Daniel Day-Lewis and Colin Farrell. Lazarus was originally intended to be Irish, but Downey felt more comfortable using an Australian accent, since he had portrayed an Australian character in ''Natural Born Killers''.
* Nick Nolte as Four Leaf Tayback: The author of ''Tropic Thunder'', a fake memoir of his war experiences on which the film-within-a-film is based. He suggests the idea of dropping the actors in the middle of the jungle to get them looking and feeling like soldiers lost in a foreign land.
* Steve Coogan as Damien Cockburn: The inexperienced British film director who is unable to control the actors in the film. The character was partly inspired by Richard Stanley, and his experience of directing the 1996 film '' The Island of Dr. Moreau'', with Val Kilmer and Marlon Brando.
* Jay Baruchel as Kevin Sandusky: A novice actor, he is the only cast member to have read the script and book and attended the assigned boot camp prior to the film. Sandusky plays a young soldier named Brooklyn in the film-within-a-film. Brooklyn and Sandusky each occupy the position of straight man in character in the film-within-a-film and its cast, being the only actor without an internal conflict or deep-seated insecurity. He often serves as a mediator when tensions between the cast get high.
* Danny McBride as Cody Underwood: The film's explosives expert and helicopter pilot. He has developed a reputation for being a dangerous pyromaniac after an incident while working on Freaky Friday nearly blinded Jamie Lee Curtis.
* Brandon T. Jackson as Alpa Chino: A closeted homosexual rapper who is attempting to cross over into acting, portraying a soldier named Motown, while promoting his "Bust-A-Nut" candy bar and "Booty Sweat" energy drink. He feels his image as a rapper would not allow him to be openly gay. His name is a play on Al Pacino. Kevin Hart turned down the role because he did not want to play a gay character.
* Bill Hader as Studio Executive Rob Slolom: Grossman's assistant and right-hand man
* Brandon Soo Hoo as Tran: The 12-year-old young leader of the Flaming Dragon gang. The character was compared to God's Army guerrilla leaders Johnny and Luther Htoo.
* Reggie Lee as Byong: The second-in-command of the Flaming Dragon gang.
* Trieu Tran as Tru: A dedicated mercenary and actor in the Flaming Dragon gang.
* Matthew McConaughey as Rick "The Pecker" Peck: Speedman's extremely devoted agent and best friend.
* Tom Cruise as Les Grossman: The profane, ill-tempered studio executive producing ''Tropic Thunder''. Various commentators believe he is loosely based on Scott Rudin, famous for his volcanic temper and poor treatment of others.

Various actors and celebrities portray themselves, including Tobey Maguire, Tyra Banks, Maria Menounos, Martin Lawrence, The Mooney Suzuki, Jason Bateman, Lance Bass, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Alicia Silverstone, Christine Taylor, Mini Anden, Anthony Ruivivar, Yvette Nicole Brown, Rachel Avery, Sean Penn, and Jon Voight. Co-writer Justin Theroux appears in two brief roles as a UH-1 Huey gunner and the disc jockey from ''Zoolander'' (shown in a deleted scene).

Production

Script

Stiller developed the premise for ''Tropic Thunder'' while shooting ''Empire of the Sun'', in which he played a small part. Stiller wanted to make a film based on the actors he knew who, after taking part in boot camps to prepare for war film roles, became "self-important" and "self-involved" and appeared to believe they had been part of a real military unit.

Co-writer Theroux revealed that the initial script concept was to have actors go to a mock boot camp and return with posttraumatic stress disorder. The final script was developed to satirize Vietnam War films such as ''Apocalypse Now'', ''Rambo'', ''Missing in Action'', ''Platoon'', ''Full Metal Jacket'', ''Hamburger Hill'', and ''The Deer Hunter''. Theroux pointed out that since viewers had an increased awareness of the inner workings of Hollywood due to celebrity websites and Hollywood news sources, the script was easier to write. Dialogue for unscripted portions of the storyboard was developed on set by the actors or was improvised.

Casting

Stiller's original plan was to cast Keanu Reeves as Tugg Speedman and himself as Rick Peck. Etan Cohen created the role of Kirk Lazarus as a way of lampooning the great lengths that some method actors go to depict a role. Downey was approached by Stiller about the part while on vacation in Hawaii. Downey said on CBS' ''The Early Show'' that his first reaction was, "This is the stupidest idea I've ever heard!" and that Stiller responded, "Yeah, I know – isn't it great?" In another interview, Downey said that he accepted the part but, having no idea where or even how to start building the character of Lazarus, eventually settled on a jive-esque speech pattern and a ragged bass voice; he then auditioned Lazarus' voice over the phone to Stiller, who approved the characterization immediately. Downey revealed that he modeled the character on actors Russell Crowe, Colin Farrell, and Daniel Day-Lewis. The initial script was written for Downey's character to be Irish, but was altered after Downey stated he could improvise better as an Australian (he had previously played a similar outlandish Australian character in the film ''Natural Born Killers''). Downey's practice of remaining in character between takes and even off the film set was also written into the script for his character to perform. Downey required between one and a half to two hours of make-up application. According to Downey, "One makeup artist would start on one side of my face and a second makeup artist would start on the other side, and then they'd meet in the middle."

Downey acknowledged the potential controversy over his role: "At the end of the day, it's always about how well you commit to the character. If I didn't feel it was morally sound, or that it would be easily misinterpreted that I'm just C. Thomas Howell Soul_Man''.html" ;"title="Soul_Man_(film).html" ;"title="n ''Soul Man (film)">Soul Man''">Soul_Man_(film).html" ;"title="n ''Soul Man (film)">Soul Man'' I would've stayed home." Co-star Brandon T. Jackson stated: "When I first read the script, I was like: What? Blackface? But when I saw him [act] he, like, became a black man ... It was just good acting. It was weird on the set because he would keep going with the character. He's a method actor." Stiller commented on Downey's portrayal of a white actor playing a black man: "When people see the movie – in the context of the film, he's playing a method actor who's gone to great lengths to play a black guy. The movie is skewering actors and how they take themselves so seriously." Stiller previewed the film before the NAACP, and several black journalists reacted positively to the character.

Cruise was initially set to cameo as Stiller's character's agent, Rick Peck. Instead, Cruise suggested adding a studio head character, and the idea was incorporated into the script. Stiller and Cruise worked together to create the new character, Les Grossman, as a middle-aged businessman. The role required that Cruise don a fatsuit, large prosthetic hands, and a bald cap. It was Cruise's idea to give the character large hands and dance to " Low". Stiller intended to keep Cruise's role a secret until the film's release. In addition, Paramount Pictures refused to release promotional pictures of Cruise's character to the media. In November 2007, images of Cruise wearing a bald headpiece and a fatsuit appeared on ''Inside Edition'', as well as on the Internet. Cruise's attorneys threatened a lawsuit if photos showing Cruise in costume were published. They approached various sites that were hosting the image and quickly had it removed. A representative for Cruise stated: "Mr. Cruise's appearance was supposed to be a surprise for his fans worldwide. Paparazzi have ruined what should have been a fun discovery for moviegoers." The photography agency INF, who debuted the image, responded with a statement: "While these pictures were taken without breaking any criminal or civil laws, we've decided to pull them from circulation effective immediately."

Serving as a last-minute replacement, Tobey Maguire was available to be on set for only two hours to film his scenes in ''Satan's Alley''. Downey said he was amazed Maguire would agree to do the film and felt like they were creating a "karmic pay-off" for their scenes together in the 2000 film ''Wonder Boys'', where Downey's character has a one-night stand with Maguire's character. After Cruise vacated the role of Rick Peck, Owen Wilson was cast to play the part. Following his suicide attempt in August 2007, Wilson dropped out of the film and was replaced by Matthew McConaughey.

Filming

Although Southern California and Mexico were considered for the main unit filming, the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i (where Stiller has a home) was selected for the majority of the shooting. Kaua'i was chosen over Mexico because a tax credit for in-state spending was negotiated with the Kaua'i Film Commission. John Toll, the cinematographer, stated the island was also selected for its similarity to Vietnam, based on its dense foliage, variety of terrains, and weather. Kaua'i was first scouted as a possible location to film ''Tropic Thunder'' in 2004. Stiller spent more than 25 hours over 6 weeks exploring the island, using all-terrain vehicles, boats, and helicopters. After the film was greenlit by DreamWorks in 2006, preproduction lasted for six months, most of this time spent on scouting additional locations for filming. Filming for the Los Angeles and interior scenes occurred on sets at Universal Studios in Hollywood.

''Tropic Thunder'' was the first major studio production on Kaua'i in five years. After filming was completed, it was deemed the largest production filmed on the island to date, and contributed more than $60 million to the local economy. Tim Ryan, the executive editor of ''Hawaii Film & Video Magazine'', commented on the filming on the island: "I think ''Tropic Thunder'' will give Kaua'i much needed and long idled publicity in the production arena ... It should put Kaua'i back on the production consideration radar." Preliminary production crews were on the island starting in December 2006 and principal photography began in July 2007, with filming lasting thirteen weeks over seven separate locations on the island. Much of the filming took place on private land as well as conservation status designated areas. Casting calls on the island sought 500 residents to portray the villagers in the film. Two units shot simultaneously on the island from the ground, and an aerial unit shot from helicopters. Many of the sets and the bridge used for one of the final scenes were built in three months. The island's erratic weather hampered filming with rain and lighting issues. The crew also faced complications in moving the equipment and cast due to the difficult terrain.

The film advising company Warriors Inc. was enlisted to ensure the war scenes, including the attire worn by the actors, looked authentic. Former members of the U.S. military taught the actors how to handle, fire, and reload their weapons, as well as perform various tactical movements. The opening war scene was filmed over three weeks and required fifty stuntmen. Animatics were used to map out the necessary camera angles for filming.

Effects

Six companies working on different scenes and elements created 500 shots of visual effects in the film. These were at times altered weekly due to the reactions of test audiences in screenings. CIS Visual Effects Group assisted with the ''Scorcher VI'' faux trailer and twenty additional shots for the home media release. To expand on the comedy in the film, some of the explosions and crashes were embellished to look more destructive. The visual effects supervisor Michael Fink reflected on the exaggerated explosions: "We worked really hard to make the CG crashing helicopter in the hot landing sequence look real. Ben was adamant about that, but at the same time he wanted the explosion to be huge. When you see it hit the ground, it was like it was filled with gasoline! It was the same thing with Ben's sergeant character, who almost intercepts a hand grenade ... Now, I was in the Army for three years and no hand grenade would make an explosion like that ... But it was a big dramatic moment and it looks really cool ... and feels kind of real."

Filming the large napalm explosion in the opening scene of the film required a 450-foot (137-meter) row of explosive pots containing 1,100 gallons (4,165 liters) of gasoline and diesel fuel. All the palm trees used in the explosion were moved to the specific location after the crew determined the impact of the lighting and necessary camera angles. Due to the size and cost of the 1.25-second explosion, it was performed only once and was captured by twelve cameras. For the safety of the crew and cast, the detonators were added one hour before the explosion and nobody was allowed to be within during detonation. The explosion was made up of twelve individual explosions and resulted in a mushroom cloud that reached in the air. For the scene in the film, Danny McBride's character, Cody Underwood, was the only actor shown in the shot of the explosion. All the other characters were added digitally. The explosion of the bridge in one of the final scenes used nine cameras to capture the shot, and the crew was required to be away for their safety.

Promotion

A trailer for the film was released in April 2008. The ''Calgary Herald'' gave it a rating of 3/5, commenting: "This could either be good or very, very bad." Gary Susman of ''Entertainment Weekly'' questioned whether the film would "... turn into precisely the kind of bloated action monstrosity that it's making fun of." The trailer received the "Best Comedy Trailer" award at the 9th annual Golden Trailer Awards. DreamWorks also released a red band trailer, the first of its kind used by the studio to promote one of its films.

Stiller, Downey, and Black appeared on the seventh-season finale of ''American Idol'' in a sketch as The Pips performing with Gladys Knight (via archival footage). The three actors also later performed a sketch at the 2008 MTV Movie Awards which featured the actors attempting to create a successful viral video to promote the film with awkward results. In September 2008, Stiller and Downey attended the San Sebastián International Film Festival to promote the film. A screening was shown, but it was not chosen to compete against the other films at the festival.

Between April 2008 and the film's commercial release in August 2008, the film had over 250 promotional screenings. On August 3, 2008, Stiller, Downey, and Black visited Camp Pendleton, a U.S. Marine Corps base in California, to present a screening to over a thousand military members and their families. The screening was on behalf of the United Service Organizations and included the actors heading to the screening by helicopter and Humvees. On August 8, 2008, a special 30-minute fictional ''E! True Hollywood Story'' aired about the making of ''Tropic Thunder''. In video games, a themed scavenger hunt was incorporated into '' Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2'', and Stiller allowed his likeness to be used in the online Facebook application game based on the film.

As a tie-in for the film's release, Paramount announced it would market the energy drink known in the film as "Booty Sweat". Michael Corcoran, Paramount's president of consumer products, commented on the release: "We're very excited, because it has the potential to live for quite a while, well beyond the film." The drink was sold in college bookstores, on Amazon.com, and at other retailers.

Faux websites and mockumentary

Several faux websites were created for the characters and some of their prior film roles. A website for ''Simple Jack'', a faux film exhibited within the film, was removed by DreamWorks on August 4, 2008, due to protests from disability advocates. In addition, other promotional websites were created for "Make Pretty Skin Clinic", the fictitious company that performed the surgery of the film's character Kirk Lazarus, along with one for the energy drink "Booty Sweat".

In mid-July 2008, a faux trailer for the mockumentary ''Rain of Madness'' was released. The mockumentary was a parody of '' Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse''. It follows co-writer Justin Theroux as a fictitious documentarian named Jan Jürgen documenting the behind-the-scenes aspects of the film within the film. Marketing for the faux documentary included a movie poster and an official website prior to ''Tropic Thunder''s release. The mockumentary was released on the iTunes Store after the film's release and was also included on the home video release. Amy Powell, an advertising executive with Paramount, reflected on the timing of the release of ''Madness'': "We always thought that people would be talking about ''Tropic Thunder'' at the water cooler, and that's why we decided to release ''Rain of Madness'' two weeks into ''Tropic''s run—to keep this positive buzz going."

Release

Theatrical release

''Tropic Thunder'' held an early screening at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con, two weeks before it officially premiered on August 11, 2008, at the Mann Village Theatre in Westwood, California and two days before its wide release. Members of several disability groups picketed before the premiere, protesting at the portrayal of intellectual disability shown in the film. The groups revealed that it was the first time that they had ever protested together at an event. As a result of the protest, the normally unobstructed views of the red carpet leading to the premiere were blocked off by 10-foot (3-m)-high fences and there was an increase in the number of security personnel present. No protests were held at the United Kingdom's September premiere.

The North American release was scheduled for July 11, 2008, but was delayed until August 15, before being brought forward to August 13. As a result of the move from July, 20th Century Fox moved its family comedy ''Meet Dave'' in the open slot. The August 13 release date was also the opening weekends for the animated family film '' Star Wars: The Clone Wars'' and the horror film ''Mirrors''. Studios consider the third week of August to be a weaker performing period than earlier in the summer because of students returning to school. Previous R-rated comedies such as ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'' and '' Superbad'' were released in mid-August and performed well at the box office. Reacting to ''Tropic Thunders release date, Rob Moore, vice chairman of Paramount Pictures, stated, "For a young person at the end of summer, you want to have some fun and forget about going back to school. What better than a crazy comedy?"

Home media

''Tropic Thunder'' was released in the United States on DVD and Blu-ray on November 18, 2008, three months after its release and a week after the end of its theatrical run in the U.S. and Canada. The film was released on home video on January 26, 2009, in the United Kingdom. Special features include an unrated director's cut of the film which is 12 minutes longer than the theatrical release, audio commentaries (including one featuring Stiller, Downey, and Black, with Downey providing his commentary as Lincoln Osiris, a nod to a joke in the film that Lazarus never breaks character until he completes the DVD commentary), several featurettes, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, and the ''Rain of Madness'' mockumentary.

For the film's first week of release, ''Tropic Thunder'' placed on several video charts. It reached second place on the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart and Nielsen's Blu-ray Disc chart, earning $19,064,959 (not including Blu-ray sales). In rentals, it placed first on the ''Home Media Magazines video rental chart. The DVD sales in 2008 totaled $42,271,059, placing it in 28th for DVD sales for the year. By September 2009, 2,963,000 DVD units have been sold, gathering revenue of $49,870,248.

The upcoming HDR Dolby Vision mastered Ultra HD Blu-ray is scheduled to be released through Kino Lorber.

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 82% based on 252 reviews and an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "With biting satire, plenty of subversive humor, and an unforgettable turn by Robert Downey Jr., ''Tropic Thunder'' is a triumphant late summer comedy." Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score from reviews by mainstream critics, gave a film score of 71 out of 100 based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

After attending an industry screening in April 2008, Michael Cieply from the ''New York Times'' stated that the film was "shaping up as one of reamWorkss best prospects for the summer." Claudia Puig of ''USA Today'' gave the film a positive review, writing "There are some wildly funny scenes, a few leaden ones and others that are scattershot, with humorous satire undercut by over-the-top grisliness. Still, when it's funny, it's really funny." A review in ''Variety'' by Todd McCarthy was critical: "Apart from startling, out-there comic turns by Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise, however, the antics here are pretty thin, redundant and one-note." Glenn Kenny

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